Large dams on the Narmada river

Sites of struggle

Of the 30 big dams proposed along the Narmada, Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) and Narmada Sagar
Project (NSP) are the megadams. The Maheshwar and Omkareshwar dams
along with SSP and NSP, are to form a complex which would ultimately
cater to the needs of SSP. The struggle of the people of the Narmada
valley against large dams began when the people to be displaced by SSP
began organizing in 1985-86. Since then the struggle has spread to
encompass other major dams in various stages of planning and
construction chiefly Maheshwar, Narmada Sagar, Maan, Goi and
Jobat. Tawa and Bargi Dams were completed in 1973 and 1989
respectively have seen the affected people organize post-displacement
to demand their rights.

A brief history

The Narmada river originates from the Maikal ranges at Amarkantak,
1057 m above the sea-level, now in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh.
In its 1312 km long journey before joining the Arabian Sea, the
Narmada flows through the three states of Madhya Pradesh (MP),
Maharashtra and Gujarat. Nearly 90% of the flow is in MP, and most of
the remaining is in Gujarat. It flows for a very brief stretch through
Maharashtra.

The valley of the river Narmada (which means one who endows with
bliss) has been the seat of an uninterrupted flow of human
civilization dating from pre-historic times. The Narmada finds mention
as one of the seven most sacred rivers in ancient Indian texts. A
number of written accounts and ballads refer to this river. Its banks
are dotted with temples, myths and folklore, the living symbols of a
timeless Indian tradition. The river Narmada has supported a
bewildering variety of people and diverse socio-cultural practices
ranging from the relatively autonomous adivasi (tribal) settlements in
the forests to non-tribal rural population.

The idea of damming the Narmada was discussed as far back as the late
19th century during the days of the British Raj. The first Irrigation
Commission of India, in its 1901 report, mentions a barrage near
Bharuch. However the black alluvial soil of the region was not
considered suitable for flow irrigation from the point of view of
investment.

The issue of damming the river was raised again after independence
under the thrust of the Nehruvian Development policy which referred
to dams as the "temples of modern India." It is said that the first
Home Minister of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who hailed from the
strong agrarian background of central Gujarat dreamt of harnessing the
river for the benefit of his own people. This "dream" syndrome became
very strong and was subsequently used by every politician in Gujarat
to leverage political support for the Narmada project.

The Narmada valley project was mired in controversy and dispute right
from its inception. In 1965, the Khosla committee planned a 530 feet
high dam in Navagam (the site of the Sardar Sarovar dam today) while
allocating 13.9 MAF (million acre feet) of water to MP and 10.6 MAF to
Gujarat. This proposal was immediately locked in a dispute between the
so-called riparian states i.e. Gujarat, Maharashtra and MP
over the sharing of the costs and benefits of the project. The chief
minister of MP, Mr. Govind Narayan Singh, objected to the
unprecedented submergence as a result of the dam and contested the
claims of Gujarat on the Narmada waters. Gujarat on the other hand
claimed a higher share of water on the basis of the projected needs of
the "drought prone area" in the far-off Kutch region. In this effort,
Gujarat also made Rajasthan a party to give itself more bargaining
power, although Rajasthan - a non-riparian state - had nothing to do
with the project.

In 1969, the Government of India under Mrs. Indira Gandhi
constituted the
Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT)
to resolve this
inter-state water dispute. The Tribunal itself was subjected to a
series of wranglings between Gujarat and MP. While MP proposed a
dam height 210 feet, Gujarat demanded that the height of the dam be
530 feet. While Gujarat put its water requirement at 22 MAF, MP
would concede only 4 MAF. Finally in 1979, after 10 years of
deliberations, the Tribunal gave its award which consisted of clear
compromises between the claims of Gujarat and MP. Accordingly they
allocated 9 MAF of water to Gujarat. and arrived at the 453 feet for
the height of the dam. Subsequently, 2 extra feet were added to the
dam height for completely unknown reasons to bring the height to round
figure of 455 feet. After a token show of resistance, the main political
formations in MP accepted the award.

The full contours of the Narmada Valley Development Plan (NVDP)
appeared only towards the late 1980s. It is an ambitious plan which
envisages the building of 30 big dams, 135 medium dams and 3000 small
dams on the Narmada & its tributaries. If all of these dams ever get
built then the river as we know it will disappear and all that will be
left are a series of lakes.